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Monday, April 2, 2012

Centre considers quota for Hyderabad-K’taka region

The Centre, which is working on granting special status to the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, is learnt to have favoured to amend the Article 371 of the Constitution to provide reservation in employment and education sector for the candidates of the backward region.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs, which has prepared a draft Cabinet note, also emphasised on providing special financial grant to certain developmental projects in the region.

Besides, a separate council will be set up comprising local elected representatives and nominated members to monitor the developments schemes to ensure its speedy execution.

Though the Centre had earlier promised to provide some financial grant to take up developmental works instead of providing reservation in job and education, the home ministry has now agreed to accord special status considering astonishingly low human development index in the region, sources in the government told Deccan Herald.

As the process of granting special status involves massive task, including amendment to the Constitution, definite time frame cannot be fixed for the final decision, sources said adding it may materialise before the next Assembly elections in the state which is in due early next year.

At present the Centre has accorded special status to several backward regions of the country, including Telangana in Andhra Pradesh. As Telangana’s special status is complicated to implement, leaders from Karnataka sought little flexible method in providing job and employment reservation which was agreed by the Centre, sources added.Reservations

After the amendment to the Constitution by the Centre, the Karnataka government can also frame some rules to provide job reservations in recruitment of group A and B posts by making separate quota for the residents of six districts backward districts of North Karnataka region including Gulbarga, Yadgir, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal and Bellary.

Home Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday admitted that the Centre is working on the proposal submitted by the Karnataka government and the Union Cabinet would take a final call.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Union Labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge said to match the Central grant, the state government should also sanction financial grants for the development of the region.

He said the state government’s proactive steps should be needed for getting special status at the earliest.